After a little consideration the doctor wrote a prescription, and, rising with the paper in his hand, joined the others.
"Our patient must take this every hour," he said. "I hope he may sleep quietly during the night; to-morrow, or the next day, we can begin a strengthening diet, and if God continues to help us, we may soon look for a rapid recovery."
He turned to the Candidate Behrmann.
"Forgive my hasty words," he said gravely. "You were right when you spoke of the divine power of God's word. God has indeed performed a wonder; not one case in a hundred would have passed through such a crisis favourably. I bow before this wonder, and with you I look up with thankfulness and adoration to the Day-spring who sends down knowledge and faith to us, as rays of light from an eternal centre."
He spoke warmly and feelingly as he held out his hand to the candidate. An indescribable expression appeared on Behrmann's face. He cast down his eyes, bent his head, and was silent.
Then he remembered that many sick friends were wanting him, and he took leave of Madame von Wendenstein with a few words of sympathy. He went up to Helena and took her hand.
Why did she withdraw it with a hasty movement of fear? Why did an icy coldness stream from his fingers to her heart? Did she see the involuntary look which flashed from his eyes when he approached the bed, or was it that secret instinct which causes unexplained sympathy and antipathy, often judging more truly than the longest experience, the deepest knowledge of mankind, or the most prudent reflection?
The physician and the candidate departed, and the ladies were left alone with the invalid, who fell into a calm sleep.
Fritz Deyke, whose strong nerves soon recovered from the excitement of the last hour, gave himself up completely to joy. After he had fetched the lieutenant's medicine he hastened into the little garden, where Margaret was watering her flowers, whose drooping heads told of the excessive heat of the last few days.
He said very little. He hurried to and fro, filling her watering-pot again and again; and then he made little channels in the ground to the roots of the plants, that the water might penetrate more quickly. He admired the quickness and grace with which Margaret watered her plants; how lightly and cleverly she raised the drooping flowers and tied them to sticks, and he saw that sometimes she looked kindly at him, and that she blushed a little when he observed it.